Bridgestone notebook: Golf takes on football

Tuesday

Jul 31, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2007 at 2:35 PM

AKRON, Ohio -- The convergence of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony is a perfect storm: The area’s two biggest sporting events taking place 25 miles from each other on the same weekend.

Josh Weir

The convergence of the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony is a perfect storm: The area’s two biggest sporting events taking place 25 miles from each other on the same weekend.

The new 32-year-old tournament director seems to be weathering it just fine.

Don Padgett III says things are running smoothly, but he’s not lighting up any victory cigars just yet.

“I think it will be tough to tell until we get through the whole week,” the easy-going Padgett said Tuesday. “The Hall of Fame’s been great to work with. We met with them early on when we knew our dates would be the same.

“We look at it as it being two great events. We both bring in lots of people from all over, and there might be a chance of sports fans going to both of our events.”

For their part, the two sides offer a joint-ticket package. The only problem has been hotels.

“I know we’ve got a lot of our guests taken care of, but it will trickle down to people just coming in for a day or two,” Padgett said. “They may have to stay a little farther away than they’re use to, but I think they’ll find space within a reasonable distance.”

Bridgestone was moved up from late August to accommodate the PGA’s FedEx Cup playoff system. Essentially, Bridgestone is now one of the last regular-season tournaments before the playoffs start with The Barclays, Aug. 20 to 26.

Padgett said the Bridgestone is slotted for this time frame though 2010.

A native of Akron, Padgett graduated from Walsh Jesuit High School. His dad was the general manager and director of golf at Firestone for 25 years.

After working at PGA Headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla., for the past seven years, Padgett jumped at the chance to return to Ohio.

“I came back to a foot of snow and zero degrees,” Padgett said. “So I got my welcome back to the Great White North. But it’s good to be home.”

Former tournament director Tom Strong is not in Akron this weekend. He’s working at PGA Headquarters in tournament business affairs.

Just in Time

Argentina’s Andres Romero was the last player to qualify for Bridgestone, putting the field at 84. He finished third at the British Open, then won last week’s Deutsche Bank Players’ Championship in Germany, catapulting him from 114th to 29th in the Official World Golf Ranking. His prize? He’s grouped with Tiger Woods for the first two rounds. “It’s great,” Romero said. “I didn’t even have this tournament on my schedule, and to now be paired with the No. 1 player in the world, it’s complicado (complicated). There’s a lot going on, and I’m just really looking forward to it.”

Early Riser

Woods, a five-time champion at Firestone, is expected to be on the South Course early this morning for his practice round.

So Close

Any player in the top 50 on the Official World Golf Ranking this week would have been eligible for Bridgestone. Charl Schwartzel and Miguel Angel Jimenez were Nos. 51 and 52, respectively.

No Thanks

Of the 85 players who qualified for Bridgestone, Fred Couples is the only one not competing this weekend. Couples, who is battling back injuries, hasn’t played since the Masters.

For the Kids

Ben Curtis and Vaughn Taylor took some time off Tuesday from preparing for Bridgestone to help FedEx and The First Tee host more than 50 kids from Canton, Akron and Cleveland for a four-hole putting course at Firestone. FedEx donated $2,000 to each city’s First Tee chapter.

Local Favorite

Curtis is hoping his strong final round at the British Open will carry over to Thursday’s opening round of Bridgestone. “It would be great to play well here,” the former Kent State Golden Flash said. “I love this place, and it’s a great golf course. I didn’t do anything last week, didn’t touch a club, so I’m just ... getting ready to go. Taking a week off ain’t going to hurt anything, so it’s no excuse.”

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